Ex-Colombian President Andres Pastrana Named in Epstein Files Released by the US

Written on 12/20/2025
Josep Freixes
Ex-Colombian President Andrés Pastrana appears in the Epstein case reports, revealed yesterday by the US, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell. Credit: Casa America, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / Flickr.

The partial disclosure of the so-called Epstein Case files has reached Colombia and stirred the South American country’s political agenda this morning. The documents released yesterday by U.S. judicial authorities point to possible connections between former Colombian president Andrés Pastrana and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of sex trafficking of minors and who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on serious federal charges.

The case files, released under transparency laws that require the publication of material related to the decades-old scandal, include transcripts of statements, travel records, and other indications of interactions between prominent figures and the circle that orbited Epstein. In that context, the appearance of Pastrana’s name in documents related to Epstein has generated controversy in Colombia, where political figures and sectors of public opinion are debating the scope and implications of these links.

The mentions emerge at a time when the global debate over Epstein’s network is intensifying with the partial publication of thousands of pages describing flights, itineraries, and testimonies from people who knew or were associated with the financier and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for recruiting minors for Epstein.

Among those documents, according to a complaint made this morning by former Colombian senator Gustavo Bolívar, there is a boarding record indicating that Pastrana traveled on one of the planes associated with Epstein on March 20, 2003, on a domestic flight within the United States, along with other passengers, including Epstein himself.

Ex-Colombian President Andres Pastrana named in Epstein case files released by the US

The files released by the U.S. Department of Justice contain transcripts of interviews, name lists, flight records, and other data relevant to understanding the scope of the network surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. These documents have been subject to criticism and analysis, as much of the content remains partially redacted or unpublished in full, fueling media anticipation and demands for greater transparency regarding the involvement of high-profile figures.

In addition to the records, sworn statements by Ghislaine Maxwell before federal prosecutors have been cited by some media outlets as indirect evidence of interactions among Epstein, Pastrana, and other actors.

In the transcript of one of Maxwell’s key interviews, recently released, the British national acknowledged knowing Pastrana, although she did not state with certainty whether he boarded Epstein’s private plane or whether he was present on the island in the U.S. Virgin Islands where, according to the allegations, Epstein organized meetings at which sexual abuse of minors allegedly occurred.

Maxwell detailed that she met the former Colombian president in a social context and that they traveled together on several occasions to different countries, including Colombia and Cuba, and that Epstein was present on some of those trips.

The March 20, 2003 flight: a controversial record

The most controversial part of the revelations has to do with the alleged flight recorded on March 20, 2003. According to the complaint by Gustavo Bolívar, on social media and through flight manifests supposedly published by U.S. authorities, Pastrana’s name appears as a passenger on a plane operated by Epstein on that day, a detail that has generated intense political debate in Colombia.

The description of that flight, which would have been domestic within the United States, places it on an itinerary shared with Epstein. Although the complete details of that record have not been fully released by the authorities, the mere mention has served to rekindle questions about the nature of the relationship between Pastrana and Epstein.

The allegations published this morning by former senator Bolívar against Pastrana, based on information made public yesterday, conclude that the former president “traveled with the pedophile and his pimp, on the pedophile’s plane, to the city where the pedophile had one of his child prostitution centers (Palm Beach).” The former senator rhetorically asks about the reason for that trip: “For what? I leave it to your imagination, but we’re not idiots,” he concluded in his comment published on his account on the social media platform X.

A photograph of Pastrana with Maxwell that will spark controversy

Nevertheless, the links between Pastrana and this shadowy Epstein group go beyond the flight cited today by former senator Bolívar. Among the material released yesterday, what stands out is the presence of Andrés Pastrana, former president of Colombia, in photographs alongside the convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, who during those years collaborated with Epstein in his activities involving the sexual trafficking of minors.

The mention of Pastrana in the document appears on page 200 of the transcript of an interview conducted with Maxwell by the Department of Justice in June of this year. In the images, Pastrana and Maxwell are wearing pilot uniforms, in what would correspond to a trip to Colombia. Maxwell recounted that she shared with Pastrana a passion for aviation and that, during her visit to the country, she piloted a Black Hawk helicopter.

In addition, the interview records that both took trips to Colombia and Cuba, during which, according to Maxwell, Epstein was also present. Pastrana’s team, consulted by the Colombian outlet El Tiempo, confirmed that the trip to Cuba took place but denied Epstein’s presence on that journey.

Colombian journalist Daniel Coronell cites another revelation that is chilling. In the book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, written by Andrew Lownie, it is recounted that at parties, Ghislaine Maxwell entertained guests “with stories about flying a Black Hawk helicopter in Colombia and firing a rocket at a terrorist camp,” activities that the woman now convicted of child trafficking supposedly carried out—or at least boasted about—during her visits to the South American country.

Political reactions in Colombia

In Colombia, Pastrana’s appearance in these files has generated mixed reactions. While sectors of the opposition and figures such as Gustavo Bolívar have demanded public explanations and the opening of investigations to clarify the alleged links, other sectors have defended the former president, stressing that knowing Epstein or appearing on flight records does not constitute evidence of participation in illicit activities.

The country’s president, Gustavo Petro, expressed his indignation, questioning the fact that Maxwell, convicted of sexual crimes, appeared wearing the uniform of the Colombian Armed Forces: “How could this illustrious right wing think of putting the uniform of our armed forces on a pedophile,” he wrote on his account on the social media platform X.

The former president Pastrana, directly singled out by the comment, responded immediately on the same platform, rejecting the accusations and attacking Gustavo Petro. “I am not intimidated by a pedophile, Gustavo Petro, who surrounds himself with child rapists and makes deals with them for the sexual enslavement of minors. This government is overdue in confronting a crime that falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. And Petro must explain his public scandals,” said Andrés Pastrana.

The partial disclosure of the documents has increased pressure for more data to be released that could help determine whether there was a specific context for the trips or meetings between Pastrana and Epstein, or whether, on the contrary, they are merely coincidences in records that do not involve reprehensible acts. Pastrana, who was president of Colombia between 1998 and 2002 and later served as ambassador to the United States, has not been formally charged with any crime in connection with the Epstein case.

However, his name had already appeared on unofficial lists associated with Epstein’s contacts, such as the well-known “black book” that records numerous numbers and addresses of people who shared moments with the financier, according to reconstructions made by third parties from some of Epstein’s personal records.

The ramifications of a scandal—the massive sexual abuses of Epstein’s pedophilia network—are spilling into the foundations of Colombian politics, with former president Andrés Pastrana in the spotlight, no longer only for his alleged personal conduct, but also for the use of state resources and assets by the country’s president with people of dubious integrity and whom the shadow of pedophilia defines in its full criminal magnitude.